Politics

NC Considers Taxing Drivers For Every Mile They Drive, In Addition To Gas Tax

The North Carolina Department of Transportation is considering a proposal that would tax citizens based on every mile they drive, in addition to gas taxes and vehicle property taxes.

NCDOT says more fuel-efficient cars on the road have North Carolinians buying less gas.

The proposal would charge half a cent per mile for cars, which could generate nearly $500 million in state revenue annually, ABC 11 reported. A driver traveling 15,000 miles a year could expect to pay $75 in per-mile taxes.

How would the state government track the number of miles a taxpayer drives? One way is to have state inspections of odometers each year. Another, less popular, proposal would have GPS devices installed in vehicles.

What if someone else borrowed your car? The car owner would still be responsible for paying the tax.

Angela Vogel-Daley with AAA told WSOC-TV that the plan will be costly; meanwhile, just increasing the gas tax would be an easier solution.

The state’s gas tax already brings in about $2.8 billion per year.

Drivers in the state pay one of the highest gas taxes in the nation, slightly more than 37 cents per gallon.

“There are a lot of potholes, and to raise more taxes could be beneficial, but at the same time we are already paying so many taxes for so many other things we don’t exactly know where that money goes,” commuter Katherine Gerstel told MyFOX8.